Pauline Liu: Delay DREAM Act until state improves its school finances

Few topics are more controversial than immigration reform. While Congress might slowly be taking on this hot-button issue, state lawmakers are tackling it now.

Pauline Liu

Few topics are more controversial than immigration reform. While Congress might slowly be taking on this hot-button issue, state lawmakers are tackling it now.

Proposed legislation known as the New York DREAM Act would make the children of undocumented immigrants eligible for state financial aid to attend college.

The latest version of the Development Relief Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act recently cleared its first big hurdle by making it out of the state Assembly Higher Education Committee. It soon could be brought to the Assembly floor. Lawmakers project it would cost the state about $20 million per year.

I have serious questions about the timing of the impending political showdown. With school districts pleading for more state aid and struggling to avoid cutting existing programs, wouldn't it make more economic sense to put this issue off a little longer?

To critics, the DREAM Act sounds like a nightmare. They say the state would be rewarding illegal immigration with hard-earned tax dollars.

The state Board of Regents has made the bill "one of the board's top legislative priorities," said Education Commissioner John King in a recent statement. "Young New Yorkers who are willing to work hard and study hard should not be denied educational opportunities simply on the basis of their parents' immigration status," he said.

Supporters of the so-called DREAMers, say the time is right to try to enact the legislation. The bill faces an uphill battle in the state Senate, where it remains in committee. This time around, supporters of the bill think they can gather enough votes.

There's also a federal version of the bill, which has gone nowhere for more than a dozen years. A big reason why it has stalled is because it not only proposes to make federal college money available to children of illegal immigrants, but it also offers a path to citizenship.

As he launches into his second term, President Barack Obama is rallying support for immigration reform.

As Americans, most of us celebrate an immigrant heritage. As the child of Chinese immigrants, I believe in the promise of the American dream. Supporters of the DREAM Act have talked about helping the children of undocumented immigrants "come out from the shadows." According to the state, in 2011 an estimated 120,000 students in grades K-12 in New York's public schools did not have legal status.

While it would be unfortunate to have dreams deferred, let also us consider the many public school students and staff who are about to have their dreams dashed by the budget cuts of the next fiscal year. Neither should be forgotten when finances permit.